Roads, bridges, jobs: Biden selling big infrastructure deal

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By JOSH BOAK and JONATHAN LEMIRE

LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — President Joe Biden declared there is an urgent need for a “generational investment” in the nation’s infrastructure, as he looked to sell voters Tuesday on the economic benefits of the $973 billion bipartisan package that still faces an uncertain future in Congress.

Biden traveled to La Crosse, Wisconsin, population 52,000, and toured its public transit center, highlighting projects — including hybrid buses and road repair equipment — that would receive additional funding from the infrastructure bill. He argued that the package, which is held together in large part by the promise of millions of new jobs, is a way for the United States to assert both the principles of democracy and the economic might that can come from dramatic investments in the country’s future.

“This deal isn’t just the sum of its parts. It’s a signal to ourselves, and to the world, that American democracy can come through and deliver for all our people,” said Biden. “America has always been propelled into the future by landmark investments.”

He said there is a critical need to improve crumbling infrastructure — from overwhelmed power grids to lead-filled water pipes to traffic-clogged roads — and stressed that a plan needs to be ambitious to not only improve Americans’ daily lives now but also to combat the growing challenges of climate change.



President Joe Biden arrives to speak about infrastructure spending at the La Crosse Municipal Transit Authority, Tuesday, June 29, 2021, in La Crosse, Wis. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-business-government-and-politics-ae135e5e64d1c04a278b3978c0192508

[Chicago1980]

1. He should go to the Pacific Northwest...

Roads and infrastructure are going to need repairing after the heat wave buckled roads.

I'm hoping to see much investment in Amtrak.

[cstanleytech]

2. Very little of the money should be spent in any deep red welfare states as if those states

need something done they should raise their taxes to pay for it themselves.

[Gamecock Lefty]

3. cstanleytech - you make a good point!

Why can't we save program costs by not giving any to states where their reps vote against it? Example, no dollars for COVID relief for Texas, Missouri, etc.

We can let the House and Senate know ahead of time if you vote against it (because certainly you know what your constituents want and are voting as such) then we'll give those dollars elsewhere?

And sure there may be some split states but we'll figure that out - maybe no dollars to the zip codes where these reps live?

Why not do that?

[cstanleytech]

4. This is actually about getting the states to stand on their own more rather than depend on federal

tax dollars which the deep red welfare states have been doing for decades.

[Bayard]

5. Because as President Biden says,

He is the president for all the American people, not just Dems.

Why punish the people in those states because they have the misfortune of lousy legislators? You voted them in you say? Just because more rethugs turned out than Dems doesn't mean the whole state should be punished.

[myohmy2]

6. we need...

...a huge infrastructure bill if for nothing else than to rebuild our electric grid and power sources...

...how are we going to power our electric vehicles and save the planet when we're having a hard time keeping our air conditioners running?

...where's all this electricity going to come from and how will it get to the user?

...or maybe this is all beyond our capitalist system when we can't even keep buildings from falling down...

...sad...